To maintain the trust, your Board must ensure the school can fulfill its mission and meet its goals without having land values and the lack of space limit program or planning decisions—not just now, but 100 years in the future! If your school does not have a land-acquisition plan. Now is the time to develop one. Acquiring land now that you may need in the future is of strategic importance to your school.
With this in mind, you must (1) determine your school’s needs, and (2) take action if necessary. In this article, we will discuss how to ascertain your school’s needs. In the next issue, we will discuss how to move forward if you decide more land is required.
Determine Your School’s Needs
Begin by assessing your current property. Does your school own or has it acquired the rights to 100 contiguous acres, if you have a suburban or rural campus, or one city block in an urban area? These viability standards must be in place to ensure that your school can grow if and when it needs to.
If the property you currently own is below the viability standard noted above, have you incorporated into your current strategic plan the resources needed to acquire the rights to adjacent properties as they become available in the future? If not, incorporate this into your next planning cycle.
If you are totally landlocked and it is unlikely that your current situation will be reversed, perhaps it is time to discuss moving the school to a new location that facilitates expansion. Without strategic planning and action now, affordable land or property in another area may not be available in five or 10 years. The cost of the property will surely escalate as well.
What restrictions, if any, do you have on your school’s existing property? Have building density limitations, enrollment caps, or other restrictions been placed on your school by municipal authorities? Can those restrictions be removed or altered? If not, these conditions may contribute to your decision to move your school.
Even if you determine the school does not need to acquire land at this time, reviewing land needs and availability should be a part of each strategic planning process. Boards should always be aware of the possibilities of purchasing property for their schools—and be prepared to act quickly whenever the opportunity arises.
Next Issue: How to Take Action
Additional ISM resources:
ISM Monthly Update for Trustees Vol. 12 No. 3 The Building and Grounds Committee’s Role in a Leased Facility
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 39 No. 9 Land Acquisition Plans: Context and Action
